


Loud Rush

by Tziput13



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Family, Gen, Humor, Race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tziput13/pseuds/Tziput13
Summary: Clyde has inadvertently suggested an idea to Lynn Sr., ultimately causing the Loud siblings to find themselves in Royal Woods' kart track. The kids at first aren't thrilled by the prospect of participating in a race, but every one of them soon starts to be entrapped by the spirit of competition.





	1. Qualifications

In a typical Saturday morning, the members of the Loud family used to have a lot of things to do at once. Every single one of the eleven siblings carried through his or her own plans, which were not going to be easily thwarted by the programs of the other occupants of the Loud House.

…at least, this remained true until one Thursday evening, when Lynn Loud Sr. had stated his will to bring all the kids to the local kart racing track the following Saturday. The loud patriarch had made no mystery of his excitement to see the ten of them race each other in an authentic kart race.

His proposal had been received with confused and mostly annoyed faces. Clearly not all of them were keen on the idea, and even Lynn's wife, Rita, tried her best to convince her husband that maybe it wouldn't have been smart to bring all of them with so few time left for the kids to rearrange their weekend.

The reaction of Lynn Sr. was starting to whimper and whine about the lost possibility of entertainment, and in the end, they all resigned themselves to accept his request in order to calm him down.

Thus,  _that_ Saturday morning, the Louds were stacked inside Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. driving with the happiest face ever with his full family. Well,  _most_  of the family… Rita had remained at home to stay with Lily, who was obviously too young to participate, even though she had promised to come over in the afternoon and to be there at least during the race with the little toddler.

Most of the Loud siblings were sulking in their seats, envying their younger sister… even though that wasn't true for two of them.

Lynn Jr. was currently jumping from a seat line to the other, much to the annoyance of her sisters and brother. At first, the jock hadn't been enthusiast about the idea similarly to the rest of the kids, but her dad only needed a few words about motorsport, emphasizing the 'sport', to actually make her look forward to the race. "Come on guys, cheer up!" she said while landing between Luna and Luan, "We'll have fun!"

"You always have fun in whatever has 'sports' in its name, Lynn," Luna countered.

"Yeah, it's like you have a sport-diction!" Luan said, earning a groan from her roommate. "Luan, you're not helping!"

Lynn scoffed and proceeded to jump back into her own seat when she saw the glare fired at her by her father, no doubt unhappy about seeing her standing around without her seatbelt. His features relaxed though and he tried himself to put everyone in a good mood. "Lynn's right, kids. You just have to give it a chance!"

"Sure thing, dad…" Lincoln said mindlessly. Much surprisingly, Lincoln wasn't that interested by the prospect of the kart race. He was a master in Clash Squad Racing on the gaming console, all right, but his interest in races stopped there and he wasn't planning on spending the entire day on something he didn't even know if he liked or not. Luna and Luan, sitting beside him, shared his thoughts to an extent. There were comedic gigs to try and new jams to attempt they had to move back to please their father's idea. The fourth seat was occupied by Lucy, who had been even more silent than usual… which wasn't surprising by itself. She had yet to find a good reason to spend time on the four-wheeled vehicles her dad was so excited about.

Behind them, the twins almost looked like a reflection of each other in their frowns. Lana would have rather spent the morning taking care of the Loud pets as well as her own, while Lola had to be restrained before she could assault her own father when the news reached her ear. Even now she continued to grumble to herself, planning who knows what type of revenge.

To Lana's right side, Lisa sat quietly, her face immersed into a notebook, the contents of which were a mystery to everyone. Lisa was, even more surprisingly, the second exception to the general grumpiness. She had right away accepted the offer of her father, and at the request for explanations by her siblings, the young genius had simply shrugged it off. "Why not?" she had said, an unsatisfying reply that made more than one of the Loud kids suspicious about what the little girl really had in mind.

On the front seats sat Lynn, Lori and Leni. The two oldest Loud sisters were possibly the less willing to participate in the kart race out of the entire family. Just ten minutes before Leni had been shocked by the reveal that they were going to  _participate_ in the race, not  _watch it_ , while her older sister Lori was immersed into her phone, without a doubt complaining with her boyfriend about the ordeal she had been forced into. Their scowls were especially in contrast with the bright grin that Lynn currently wore.

Thus, the Loud family arrived at the kart track's external parking lot, and in few minutes they were in the lobby. Someone went right away to greet them, but it wasn't an employee of the kart track… actually, it was Clyde McBride!

Lincoln walked out of his family and, before Clyde could even say 'Hello!' he pulled him away from the fierce glares of his sisters. Clyde had been, in fact, the main cause of the entire ordeal: he had, a week before, taken part in a kart race after finally managing to convince his dads with months of discussions, and Lynn Sr. had heard him talking with his best friend about the race. Lincoln's dad had been very interested by the narration told by Clyde, and after that moment it was only a matter of days before Lynn Sr. made his announcement to the rest of the family.

Lincoln wasn't exactly happy with Clyde for this very reason, but he was still his friend and he knew better that to leave him at the mercy of his easily angered sisters, who  _knew_  what the cause of their father's sudden interest was.

After Lincoln finally let Clyde away from his grasp, the latter immediately realized that something was wrong. "Hey, what's the down mood about?"

"You know very well what the answer is, Clyde," Lincoln replied. "I heard Lola and Lana planning to capture you, and heaven knows what they'll do after that… The rest of my sisters aren't happy, either."

"Oh, they just have to try it! I'm sure that after the qualification session they will all be eager to go against each other. Didn't you tell me that you all love competition?"

"Yes, that's true… but that's different from  _this."_ Lincoln sighed. "Look, Clyde, I'm not even that excited about it, too."

Clyde wasn't fazed. "Come on, Lincoln, believe me! Wait to get into your seat and you'll see!" His eyes became suddenly unfocused. "Not to mention this means I'll be able to impress Lori. A perfect race from start to finish should be enough! Even though I'd probably have to let her win somehow…"

"Didn't you tell me that you managed to cross the finish line by miracle and with two laps late to the penultimate kart your last race?"

"Well, that was the first try! And we didn't even get to do qualifications!"

Lincoln rolled her eyes and a weak smile appeared on his lips. Clyde was always the same… he seriously hoped that his reassurances had a concrete basis.

Eventually they had to gather with the Loud family. Lincoln tried his best to shield Clyde from the sight of his sisters (especially Lori, since she was as annoyed as Clyde was in love, if not more), and he was relieved to see them finally reaching the left end of the hobby, where the  _real_  manager awaited.

Lynn Sr. walked away from his family before exchanging greetings with the man behind the counter, and they immediately began to talk. None of the loud siblings wasn't that interested to listen to their conversation.

Lynn Jr. jumped around, trying to spur on her sisters. "I hope you'll all do your best, I want to have some real challenge this time around!"

"I see no challenge, only sadness in the knowledge that only one of us will win, and the others will be left with nothing but sullenness…" Lucy commented.

"Actually, some of us will most probably have to ride two-seated karts. At least, I doubt they will let the youngest of us ride a vehicle alone," Lisa pointed out.

"WHAT?!" Lola shouted in dismay, "I'm going to put my beautiful complexion in danger and I won't even have the chance to drive myself?"

"Yep," Luan confirmed with a pout rarely seen on her face. Clyde smirked before saying, "Don't worry, you will see this is nothing short of kar-tacular! Haha, get it, Luan?" he said, but the jokester literally froze him in place with a glance of her eyes.

"Can't believe I'm really here, boo-boo-bear," Lori said while taking on the phone, "I just hope dad's going to keep his promise and let me get Vanzilla for tomorrow…"

Leni examined a series of uniforms hung behind the counter with a criticizing gaze. "Where do these outfits come from? Humph, I would have brought my own from home if I knew how out of fashion these are!" She looked around, "Maybe I can do something to fix them…"

"I hope we will be done soon. Hops wasn't well this morning… I'm worried…" Lana said to herself.

"I have to admit, these guys know their thing in music at least!" Luna complimented as she listened to a rock piece being played by a speaker set fixed on a wall.

Lincoln looked at her sisters while they tried to kill time. He was a little bored as well: Clyde was momentarily out of order since he had taken a glimpse of Lori's face, and he wasn't too much willing to go examine the showcase of motorsport souvenirs.

"KIDS!" Lynn Sr. called, "We're ready. Time for a briefing to start things up!"

The Louds (and Clyde) quickly regrouped around the manager of the track. "Good. Girls… boys," he began, "Welcome to Royal Woods' Kart Track. I'll try to be brief and let this boring phase end soon. Now, you probably know about the track's guidelines concerning safety… most notably, about the age's limits."

Lisa nodded and elbowed the pageant queen's side. "Told ya'."

"Now, based on what Mr. Loud told me, there are three of you who are under the age of eight. Is that correct?"

Lana and Lisa raised her hands, while Lola had to be convinced by Lori before she signalled to be one of them as well.

"Sorry to say this, girls, but you cannot go and grab the steering wheel by yourself. But don't worry, we have a few two-seated karts ready to use, and you'll ride with one of the older participants."

Lisa was unperturbed, and Lana wasn't that annoyed as well. She, however had to go to Lori's aid in order to stop her twin from leaping at the manager and cover her mouth before she could utter what she thought about the man.

The manager continued his speech, acting like Lola Loud wasn't trying her best to break free and attack him. "Now… Lisa Loud? You are four-years old… which is a bit younger than the mean we usually let kids take part in our races, even as passengers."

"You have nothing to worry about, sir," Lisa said calmly, "I probably know more about race safety than  _you_ do in any case, and I assure you that at home I deal on a daily basis with far…  _louder_ predicaments than tiny kart engines."

"…riiiight…" the manager replied with a raised eyebrow, "I guess you can take part as well. Now… Lucy Loud?"

"Yes?" Lucy said, startling the man since she was right behind him. His paper notes fell to the ground. "Yeah. Uh… now…" he blabbered while recomposing and picking up the notes, "You're eight years old and therefore you can, in theory, race with a kart of your own. However, you should know that, following our custom, we let such young kids drive only after classes dedicated to karting, which start even before they reach the age of allowance. Now, would you-"

"If I have to visit the  _beyond_  during his race, I'll do it regardless of who is driving," Lucy interrupted. The manager was shocked, but the gothic girl continued her speech, "…maybe, though, I might be able to feel something about this so-called race if I don't have to focus on driving… and it could get ideas for a few poems."

She looked at the bewildered manager, "If that's what you prefer, I can ride with one of my sisters."

The manager tried his best to remain calm. Lynn Sr. chuckled at the man's reaction, "Don't worry, that's Lucy Loud for you, it's just her way to say it's not a problem."

"...uhm… okay…" the manager spluttered before continuing, "So, uh… there's four kids here who need a driver."

"You're free to make whatever couples you like, girls!" Lynn Sr. announced. Before anyone could even acknowledge the info, Luan suddenly fired up, "I take Lana!"

Lana was surprised by her sister's choice, but Luan simply winked at her. What the jokester had in mind remained unknown by the young tomboy, at least for now.

"Father, I express the desire to be with Leni," Lisa said. Immediately all the other Loud siblings and Clyde turned towards her in shock, while Leni was more than happy. "Wow, thank you Lisa! I didn't know you had faith in me!"

"Lisa, are you sure?" Luna whispered to the four-year-old's ear. "Remember how Leni's attempts to get a driving license ended up?"

"A kart and a road vehicle are two different means of transportation," Lisa replied. Then, he turned away before saying, "Besides, I have everything under control…" She went to go to Leni's side while rubbing her hands, an action that did not went unseen by Lincoln.  _Okay, she has a plan,_ he thought,  _…please don't do something explosive though this time!_

"Good. How about you, Lola and Lucy?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"I'm sure I can drive far better than any of my older sisters!" Lola roared, "I literally drive a car almost every day at home!"

"I have no preference…" Lucy said quietly.

"In that case, I'll choose for you," Lynn Sr. quickly decided. "Lori, you will drive for Lucy."

"Mmh-mmh, right dad," Lori answered, not really listening since she was concentrated on reading whatever was on her phone.

"While you, Luna, will drive for Lola," he finished. Luna immediately went to Lola's side and patted her shoulder. "Buck up, Lola, I'm sure we'll put on a spectacle they won't forget!" she said, but Lola kept her eyes fixed on the ground, offended.

"That's sealed! It should be… yes, it's seven karts total: Lincoln, Lynn, Clyde, Lola and Luna, Lucy and Lori, Lisa and Leni, and Luan and Lana," Lynn Sr. mentally counted.

"Very good," the manager approved, "you're going to spend the day as follows: now we're going to do a little qualification session, where you'll get accustomed to driving our karts and you'll gain a place on the starting grid. After lunch, the real race will begin. Now, time to get to the technical part. Who of you has ever had any experience with driving?"

The manager continued on with his due explanations of the rules and what was and wasn't allowed. Lincoln lost interest early and his thoughts fell on what was going to happen that day.

_Maybe the others will find all of this entertaining after all… perhaps I will, too._

* * *

Clyde McBride elegantly made it through the last turn of the track before speeding down the straight, pushing down the throttle of his kart and not letting it go until he crossed the finish line. Only after did he ease himself and let his vehicle breathe for a moment while he re-did the track one last time. He was pretty sure that with his last lap he had managed to strike a record.

At first, the qualification session had been just as the eleven-year old had predicted. Thanks to his experience he quickly found himself in virtual first place, leaving behind himself more than one Loud driver, and Clyde was sure that for some minutes he had the best time as well. That remained true, however, until someone made an unexpected overtake on him: none other than Lynn Loud herself. And soon, all of the other Louds began to rise their pace and Clyde was basically forced to spend all his efforts on doing a good time.

It was clear that the Loud siblings had gotten into the racing spirit quite quickly, and Clyde was curious to see exactly what the various sisters' and his best friend's opinions were. He wasn't prepared, though, to the sight that greeted him when he finally reached the 'mini pit-stop' of sorts where the others participants had already arrived.

Clyde turned off the engine and stood up, immediately removing his helmet and leaving the kart to one of the assistants who were present. He glanced at the Louds and was surprised to see that they were…  _quiet._

As if, in complete silence. Which, given we're talking about the  _Loud_  family, is saying something.

Before Clyde could question the weird hush out loud, Lincoln rushed towards him, grabbed him by an arm and dragged him away from the silent Loud sisters. Only after he was sure they were out of ear range Lincoln let Clyde go.

"Wow Lincoln, I know you're worried about me fainting because of Lori, but that was a little uncalled for. She still had her helmet on!" Clyde said.

Lincoln glanced at her sisters. "That's no more true…"

Clyde watched and got a glimpse of the blonde beauty in her racing uniform, and he barely managed to turn his face away before passing out. "Ohh… okay, maybe you're right. Thank goodness for those helmets while we race! Speaking of which, how has it been? Did you like it?"

Lincoln kept his gaze on his sisters without answering, and Clyde got the feeling he was worried about something. "Is there something wrong?"

"What? No, no Clyde, I admit, this was more fun than I expected, but look…" Lincoln said before making a signal with his head towards the nine females.

Clyde observed the sister (minus Lori) and tried to see if there was something wrong. Indeed, the girls were all strangely silent, and not a word was spoken between them. On the contrary, Clyde noticed their narrowed eyes, the frowns and the glares they threw at each other. There was a clear tension around them.

"Did I miss something? An argue or what?"

"Clyde, don't you realize it?" Lincoln explained, "It's the race! We've been… I mean,  _they've_  all been influenced by competition spirit, again!"

"And that means?"

"It means they will do anything,  _anything,_ to win from now on. No matter how hard, dangerous or stupid!"

"You're a little exaggerating, Lincoln. It's a kart race, of course we're going to jab at each other and do our best to win."

"Not with  _my sisters,_ Clyde," Lincoln replied vehemently. "You have to stay silent and not let them hear anything about what you're going to do, your strategies, way of driving, and so on."

"Strategies? I thought that was an exclusive of Formula-tier races."

Lincoln sighed. "Look Clyde… just be careful. I'm afraid this next race is going to be quite far from monotonous, and I absolutely have to w-… I mean, to have fun!"

Clyde put a hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "Relax, buddy. I'm sure you're just overthinking it and we'll all be laughing together once the race's completed. May the best racer win!"

Lincoln chuckled with a struggled, fake-ish laugh. "Yeah, sure… may the  _best_  racer win."

* * *

Clyde was pondering over Lincoln's words right now. Maybe he  _wasn't_ overthinking  _that_ much…

By now he was at lunch with the almost full Loud family. Lynn Sr. sat at the head of the table while the kids filled the seats on the sides, with Clyde being in the centre of one. The lunch had been more awkward than Clyde had premeditated: the Louds had been all as silent as ever, in a way that Lucy wasn't that different from her other siblings, and their hunger wasn't the best, either.

Lynn Sr. apparently was oblivious to the tension between his son and daughters. After finishing his dish, he said, "So, kids, how's the first ride been?"

"I gotta say, it was fun!" Leni chirped up. Clyde realized that she was probably even more oblivious than her own father. "I thought it would be all totally boring, but I was surprised!"

"Happy to hear that hon," Lynn Sr. replied while smiling. He waited for additional answers but none came: the other siblings were too much occupied with their own business. Luan and Lana whispered to each other unclear words, Lori had her eyes fixed on her phone, Lucy was almost invisible, Lisa wrote down notes on her notebook with an unsettling grin, Lola glared at her other sisters and Luna tried her best to eat up her food without much results. Lynn and Lincoln were especially worrying since they, of all people, seemingly lost their tongue.

"Come on, I know you have to say something about it," Lynn. Sr. pressed.

Lisa raised her head and exhibited her best smile. "It was… an enlightening experience, father."

"Yep, very interesting… I guess," Lola added.

"Yeah…" Lincoln said, letting out an awkward chuckle.

"Yep," Luna nodded.

"Uh… sure, right…" Lynn's voice was forced, like she had made herself say it against her own will.

Luan and Lana stopped the exchange by saying together, "We cannot wait to get in the real race this afternoon!"

The other sisters, except for Lori, immediately looked at the two with wary faces. The oldest Loud sibling remained unperturbed by their assertion: "Humph, whatever. I just hope this is gonna end soon…"

She ignored the hostile glances she got from her siblings (and Clyde, who had to hide his face under the table and take a few breaths with his safety bag to calm himself down after hearing her voice) and stood up, going away while still texting on her phone.

"Ohh, Lori," Clyde said while climbing back to his seat, "only you seem to not get influenced by the competition spirit. She indeed is on another level… right Lincoln?"

No answer.

"…Lincoln?"

Clyde suddenly realized that not only his best friend was missing, but the entire family had abandoned the table as soon as Lori did. Lynn Sr. was the only one left and he watched Clyde with a perplexed look.

Clyde could only shrug before casually saying, "Well, they really want to get on the grid as soon as possible… seems like this is going to be fun, isn't it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will be kept short. At the moment, it is planned to get another chapter plus a short final one, and both should not take too much time to be posted. Given the high amount of characters of this fandom, I wanted to start out with a simple fanfic to get used to writing them, and what you've just read is my attempt at doing so.


	2. Main Event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is set before 'The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos'. I began working on this one before said episode happened, and instead of forcing an explanation for a minor appearance I decided to simply move it back in time.

"Goo-goo!"

"Hey, slow down, sweetie!" Rita chuckled as Lily fidgeted around in her arms, trying to get a grab of whatever was nearby. "You'll have to wait a little more before you can join your siblings!"

Lily apparently ignored her remark and continued to point at the exhibit items that were scattered around the kart track's lobby. As much as her mother would have wanted to play with her and her curiosity a little more, Rita knew that their time was up. They took the bus a little late, and there was no time left for visiting the mini-museum.

"We'll see more of it later, Lily. Now, we don't wanna miss the big one, do we?"

"Gah!" Lily exclaimed.

"Exactly. Let's go see what kind of trouble your father is getting into right now," Rita said. She had a little hunch that, once left alone in the little paradise that the kart track was for whoever had even a tiny interest in motorsport, her husband would have been quick to do something reckless.

Despite her worries, Rita didn't find any sign of rampage as she followed the signs that marked the path that brought to the bleachers. There were a few people sitting on the seats, no more than ten people, but Rita didn't find it that surprising. She may have a very limited knowledge on the matter but she didn't need it to understand that a family competition might not have been that interesting.

Well, their loss!

Rita started to walk up the stairs and moved towards the form of her husband that she had already recognized from afar. Lynn Sr. was currently immersed in a tight conversation with the man sitting beside him and had yet to notice the arrival of his wife. In the immediate surroundings there only three other bystanders: one peculiar fellow wearing a black uniform, hat and sunglasses, a more casual looking person who sat by Lynn's side and another man who was located a couple of seats ahead of Lynn.

"Sorry, am I stopping something important? You two seem pretty heated," Rita commented as she sat beside Mr. Loud.

"Oh, hello honey! Hi there, little one!" Lynn Sr. laughed as he passed his hand over Lily's head. The toddler blew a raspberry to him, but it only had the effect to make his dad laugh. "No, of course no. We were just having a little debate on what team currently has the advantage in-"

"Ah-ah-ah! No motor-talk here!" Rita ordered. "I know I'm not asking a lot, but right now the only teams I'm interested in are the kids' ones and the match that's going to take place in minutes."

"I couldn't agree more, Miss Loud... especially if your husband persists in supporting the-…" the guy was hushed by a glare from the woman. Deep down, Rita knew that it was only a matter of time before they would begin arguing again, but she was satisfied with the few minutes of silence she could get right now.

"And… the kids should get out of the box in a few moments, honey," Lynn Sr. explained. "The manager of the track told me it shouldn't take too much. Actually, it's the man sitting right below us!"

Hearing the name of his role, the manager whirled around and waved at Rita. "Gooday Miss Loud! Don't mind if a get a glimpse of the show myself, seeing an entire family challenge each other is a rare occurrence!"

Rita smiled. "I believe you won't be disappointed, sir," she reassured… only to have her smiled fade a little once she realized what she was referring to. The kids could get really focused when they competed with each other, and karting wasn't exactly the safest sport on the market.

Lynn Sr. was carrying Lily right now, who was entertaining the other onlooker with her sneers, and he didn't miss the sudden change on her wife's face. "Oh, don't worry, Rita," he immediately said, "I've been talking to the manager more than you thought and safety is a rule here. You have nothing to worry about!"

"I do hope so, Lynn," Rita replied. "Knowing the kids, I might not be completely sure about that."

As if on cue, the few technicians working on the vehicles already on the starting grid left their positions… and they were substituted by the Loud siblings, along with Clyde McBride. The racers were apparently very concentrated, given the total lack of exchanges between them. Only Leni with her bright smile didn't seem to be disturbed, while Clyde nervously glanced at the various Louds around him worriedly.

Lynn Loud Jr. approached her kart on the top of the grid… almost. She glanced at the vehicle which had managed to win the first place during the qualifications session  _and_ at the driver who had managed to get a better time than her. Lincoln spent a few seconds observing his other sisters before realizing that Lynn was glaring at him… and, of course, he couldn't help but smirk.

"Do you know that driving for the first place and for the best time are two different things, Lincoln?" Lynn said, trying to not snarl her words.

"Maybe, but I do know that in both cases you need to be fast… which I clearly am, huh-uh?" Lincoln replied. Lynn gritted her teeth and forced herself not to consider leaping at her brother and gnawing at his neck. She cracked her knuckles.

"We'll see about that soon, Linc… very soon," she hissed. Lincoln gulped, thinking that maybe he could have kept that jab to himself, but the damage had been done.

Lynn turned around and shouted to the rest of her sisters, "Good luck! I'll see you two laps after I cross the finish line!"

"Good luck to you too! Maybe we'll really have a good time together! Won't we, Lisa?" Leni exclaimed. Her and Lisa's kart was positioned right behind Lynn's.

"I'm afraid that won't be a fully correct prediction of the evolution of the approaching game," Lisa replied. "Oh, I'm clearly talking about your sentence, Lynn."

Lynn shot a hostile glare to the four-year-old genius, who simply shrugged. Away from them stood Clyde, current holder of the third place and right behind Lincoln's kart, who sensed the arising tension. "Oh, come on guys, there's no need to get this emotional!"

"Agreed," Lori said, causing Clyde to almost faint on the spot. "I guess I'll have to win this one anyway. After all, I'm the only one here who actually knows how to drive." Her kart was located behind Clyde's, marking the fifth place. Lucy was already seated on the vehicle and simply muttered, "It's just as I foretold. The race, the siblings… and only one shall win. Fascinating…"

To their left Luan and Lola were mocking everyone, and Lynn's remark only gave them apparently another reason to laugh their heads off. "What's so funny, you two!?" Lola demanded, but Luan and Lana didn't comply with an answer apart from a smug look of the six-year old tomboy to her twin. By then Clyde had already regained control of his body and managed to see the chortling pair… and he was especially worried about them than any other member of the Loud family. Lincoln said something about Lana carrying some heavy bags into the car garage… at first, Clyde had doubted about the possibility of the two of them preparing some type of surprise.

Now, he sincerely hoped he was right.

"Why, you little!" Lola roared. "You're lucky I'm not the one driving, Lana, or I'd give you a piece of my mind!"

Sadly, Lola and Luna occupied the last place on the grid, filling half of the last line and with Lori's kart right in front of them. Luna had thought that trying to drive following a rhythm she mentally chanted in her head was a clever idea, and Lola was still blaming her for the horrible performance.

"Oh, give me a break, sis!" Luna protested, "Just let the race start and you'll see we still can put up a good fight!"

Lola scoffed, unconvinced by the rocker's promise, but before she could retort an announcement came through the speakers of the track.

"Attention, pilots! Time to start things off! Take your seats at once!"

The Louds launched a final series of glares between each other… and Clyde finally realized that this was going to be far from being a casual family race.

"Remember, fair game is our main rule, so don't try anything out of the loop. Nine laps, the first one to complete them wins.  _Have fun!"_

Eventually, they all put their protective helmets on and sat down in their respective karts. Soon the rumbling sound of the engines starting up filled the track and reached the ears of the onlookers on the bleachers.

"Oh, that's the sound I like! You take Lily, honey – I don't want to miss the start!" Lynn Sr. said, handing over the toddler to Rita. An action that was unneeded since Lily was as entrapped as her father by the roars of the motors.

"Well, at least they won't be able to hear each other over all that noise," Rita said to herself.

"You might be surprised to know that's not completely true, Miss. Royal Woods' track has recently added a little communication system to the helmets of the pilots, and the kids in couple specifically asked for a way to be able to talk with each other."

"I don't know if that's good or bad news…"

Yet, there was no stopping the inevitable. The roadlights over the starting line lighted up with a bright red, and all the drivers grabbed their steering wheel and moved a foot over the throttle, ready to zap away. Every Loud kid (plus Clyde) had eyes for nothing but the red lights, trying to minimize their reaction time. They only waited for the proper cue…

As soon as the lights turned off, a roar erupted from the starting grid. Lily flailed her hands in the air, laughing in excitement as her sisters, her brother and McBride guest star all began the  **first lap**  of the race.

…well, maybe not all of them.

"What's wrong?" Leni cried upon realizing that her throttle wasn't working. "I press the lever thingy but nothing happens!"

Lisa was busy clicking buttons and trying to get something in her hands working. Something that was very similar to a console joypad, apparently. "Patience, older sister!" she said nervously, "It's nothing, I'm sure it will start working on its own!"

That said, Lisa took advantage of her small size to get down the space below her seats, and started to mess about with an abnormally large number of electronic circuits who normally had no place in a regular kart.  _Let's see, the remote control's inputs are not being received. What's wrong… ahah! That plug here, it should be there… and moving that… now it should start working!_

"Lisa, it doesn't move!" Leni lamented, but Lisa reappeared on the seat before she turned around to look at her. "Do not despair! I'd suggest trying one more time, dear sister…"

Leni shrugged and pressed the throttle down once again. Lisa grinned and moved a lever on her joypad forward, and the kart's wheels finally began whirling, making the vehicle dash forward in a hurry.

"Oh, finally! Let's see if we still can reach the others!" Leni chirped, not too much preoccupied by the time lost. "I'm sure we will, Leni, I'm one-hundred-percent we will…" Lisa said as she moved around the controls of the joypad like an expert, with the kart following every order she sent.

 _A minor nuisance… my remote control portable device works like a charm!_ she thought.  _Now, let's see if it's way better than physical control… and I know it is._

Various turns away from the last place kart, the rest of the group was advancing in a surprisingly regular line. Lincoln held his first place, with Lynn and Clyde in close pursuit and the rest of the Loud sisters lined behind them. No one of them dared to attempt an overtake, preferring to spend time getting acquainted with their vehicles, even in the hardest turns of the track. The only one who was actually taking risks while driving was Lis- I mean, 'Leni', who tried her best to recover the lost ground.

Thus, the first lap concluded in about two minutes without any hint of spectacle. Lynn Sr. would have already started to get bored if it wasn't for the appearance of an uncalled guest on the bleachers just as the  **second lap** started.

* * *

Lucy was sincerely surprised by the fact that Lori had been able to hold Luan and Lana off, who were already trying to attack. Her older sister was clearly driving without too much attention, but despite her lack of focus she still proved to be an obstacle for the jokester.

She had studied the dark arts for too long to believe it would carry on forever.

"BOBBY BOO-BOO BEAR!" she suddenly heard her driver's cry, followed by a sudden loss of speed.

And just like that, Lori began to let her kart move at walk's speed, waving her hands excitedly at her boyfriend, who had the great idea to make a surprise to Lori by paying a visit to her during the family race. A great idea indeed for Luan and Lana, who simply continued their race with the latter blowing a raspberry to Lucy, followed right after by Luna and Lola who snatched the chance right away.

Lucy sighed, and prepared herself to try the impossible. "Lori?"

"Not now, Lucy, I'm trying to get myself seen! Is he seeing me? Bobby!" Lori called, oblivious to the fact that only Lucy could hear her with the radio system, given the kart's roaring engine and the helmet she had on.

"Lori, we're losing time. We'll end up in the last place," Lucy reasoned.

"Oh, who cares anyway…" Lori retorted, continuing to communicate with Bobby at high distance with weird gestures.

"Why am I not surprised? Ugh… this was a bad idea…" Lucy muttered to herself. If she continued to spend her entire time in the race at this pace, she would surely have no chance to get some ideas for her poems. She needed to experience the real-

"Oh, come on Lucy!" Lori suddenly turned around, misunderstanding her little sister's words. "Sit down and enjoy the view for once, wasn't this-…"

She suddenly stopped talking when Leni and Lisa reached them. Lisa was too much focused on her controls to care, but Leni of course couldn't help but give a look to the two sisters they were leaving behind… and raising a hand to wave at them.

Something clicked in Lori's mind. Maybe it was because the helmet didn't let Lori see Leni's happy smile which was obviously hidden behind, maybe it was simply the event by itself. Nevertheless, before Lucy knew it she was suddenly pushed into her seat by inertia as the oldest Loud sibling pushed the throttle of the kart down into its maximum and the vehicle zapped forward.

The goth definitely regretted longing for the real experience.

* * *

Clyde was content of the fact he had been managing to keep the pace with Lynn and Lincoln the first lap, but apparently the two Louds had level-upped themselves with the start of the second one. Lynn's vehicle was slowly getting away and, despite his best efforts, every turn meant that the boy lost a little more space to the sports-maniac.

 _Lynn and Lincoln are surely getting the hang of it!_ Clyde thought. Not that he wouldn't like a third place… better than his previous performance, for sure.  _I wonder how Lori's doing… she should be right behind me now!_

A kart appeared on Clyde's left.

_Lori! Don't panic, don't pan- wait a second…_

Instead of the oldest loud and her black-haired companion, the kart attempting an overtake on Clyde's was driven by the master of jokes herself and her plumbing-enthusiast sister. Clyde's emotions switched quickly from nervousness to clear fear as Luan looked at him for an instant. The boy would have sworn that he saw something unsettling behind the helmet's visor.

The overtake of the two sisters was thwarted when Clyde pushed forward himself, forcing the two of them to leave space for the next turn. Clyde could still hear the noise of the kart pursuing him though, so he didn't relax.

Yet, nothing could prepare him for Luan and Lana's next move.

While coming out of the turn, Clyde noticed a shadow coming over him and beyond his kart.  _What? I didn't know birds would get so close to moving karts!_

His interpretation of the event proved to be wrong when Clyde noticed that instead of a bird, there was a  _pie_ flying. And as everyone knows, pies unfortunately lack wings, and the inviting dessert quickly came down, splattering itself on the asphalt and dispersing flour and cream everywhere.

Clyde's kart was too fast for him to react: as soon as the wheels touched the remains of the pie, the tyres lost their grip and, consequentially, as Clyde tried to get out of the hard zone, his kart ended up in a 180° turn. When his vehicle finally came to a stop, he could only gape as Lana and Luan continued on, without a doubt laughing their heads off at the misfortune of the Afro-American boy.

"Oh, no you don't!" Clyde said to himself as he pressed his shoe on the throttle to resume his race, but Luna and Lola managed to reach him and steal its place before he could get back on the track.  _Dang it, I didn't expect Lincoln's sisters to resort to something like this! And I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the rules, why am I not hearing any kind of caution warning?!_

* * *

"Lynn! Sirs!" Rita tried her best to get the men's attention. But it was of no use.

"Bellari!" the bystander guy affirmed.

"Nergedes!" Lynn Sr. responded with a huff.

"Yellow Ram!" the manager of the track retorted.

"McTarem!" Bobby added his own two cents.

And just like that, the four of them continued to argue with each other about the best motor team, completely failing to realize the spectacle going on in the kart track. Lily was actually enjoying the show quite a bit, but Rita was starting to get worried.

"Sir," she said when she realized that there was the onlooker above them near she could ask for help, apparently not that interested in the argument, "please help me get my husband and these misters to reason!"

The mysterious man didn't answer… he seemed to be just as entrapped by the race as Lily herself, sans the cries of excitement. Defeated, Rita resolved to sit down and look at her kids, hoping that at least they wouldn't try to destroy each other.

* * *

With the start of the  **third lap,** the situation became even more serious. Lisa was satisfied by the way her controls were making her kart go faster than the mean and she calculated they needed just another lap to reach the next racer. Her logic though didn't mention being chased by someone, and Lisa was sincerely surprised by the sight of Lori and a frightened Lucy attempting an overtake on them.

 _Oh, so this is how it plays out, older sister,_ Lisa mused.  _Let's see if you can actually keep my pace._  On the other vehicle, Lori was fuming, baffled by the sudden racing ability Leni had somehow learned during the qualification session, and pressed on with high speeds much to Lucy's dismay.

Their pace was stressed, to the point that both karts upped their pace and closed in to the other participants. In the meantime, Lola was satisfied by the two positions Luna had effectively gained in the previous laps, but she was fast to lose patience when the same didn't happen in the third one. "Luna, what are you doing? Get this thing moving, we can still reach Luan!"

"I'm trying, but it's not that easy!" Luna explained.

"Oh, it's not, you say?! Then let me use that steering wheel and I'll show you!"

"I told you already, you can't drive! It's the rules, sis!"

"The same rules that say that cake bombardment is forbidden?"

"That's not the point, and you know it!"

Arguing with the pageant queen was no easy task for Luna, who inevitably didn't choose the best trajectories for the track's turns. Lola and Luna didn't even realize they had lost speed until Clyde suddenly appeared out of thin air and moved beyond them.  _Sorry girls, but I have a score to settle with two of your sisters!_

* * *

Lincoln was having the time of his life. He had completely underestimated the feeling of driving a  _real_  vehicle on a  _real_  kart track, and he was almost feeling inebriated by the high speed.

He couldn't help but smile a little behind his helmet… not only was he having fun, he was also leaving his sisters with nothing but the muffler to watch. Maybe this was the one time he would manage to get better at something than them! That should teach them how to-

A driver appeared on Lincoln's right side, occupying the trajectory for the following turn. Lincoln tried hastily to accelerate and leave the adversary behind, but she was too fast and in the end the boy had to leave space and abandon the first place in her favour.

_Dang it. Of course, I forgot about Lynn._

That girl wasn't going to let him win the race without hindrances, it seemed. Lincoln believed that they both had accumulated an advantage over the other participants, so it was going to be a one-versus-one duel. For a moment, Lincoln felt desperation, but it was quickly substituted by stubborn resolve. He  _wasn't_ going to simply let Lynn win. That girl deserved a lesson even more than her other sisters… and he wasn't giving in that easily!

With his newfound courage, Lincoln accelerated and prepared himself to battle her hyperactive sister for the first place. Thus, Lynn crossed the finish line and opened the way for the  **fourth lap** with Lincoln right behind her. They were followed after five seconds by Luan and Lana, who were simply waiting for one of the two drivers ahead to make a mistake.

The remaining four karts were all grouped together a few more seconds away from Luan. Clyde was trying his best to gain space and reach the Loud sisters who had stolen his previous pace, but Luna was fighting hard to keep the pressure up (especially if that was needed to stop Lola's shouting). 'Leni' and Lori had managed to reach Luna as well, and by now they battled each other for the penultimate place.

"Gosh, I didn't know this kart-thingy could be so much fun!" Leni exclaimed as Lori's fifth attempt to overtake her resulted in nothing. Of course, she was oblivious to the war gestures her roommate was throwing at her. Lisa simply nodded and kept her eyes on the road, moving her remote-control commands skilfully.

The focus of the four kart drivers was complete, but not enough to not notice the apparition of a fifth kart getting back on the asphalt from the gravel.

 _Lincoln?_  Clyde thought as soon as he recognized the kart as his friends' own.  _Wasn't he in first place?_

Lincoln barely managed to gain speed before any of the last four karts could get near him. Behind his helmet, the boy was frowning  _and_ gritting his teeth in anger.

 _Dang it, Lynn! You won't get away with this one!_ he thought as he tightened his grasp on the steering wheel. Lynn had been quite aggressive even when Lincoln had tried to attack her… which had resulted in a little contact that made Lincoln end up off-road, losing precious seconds. Luan and Lana had even waved at him mockingly as they continued their race.

He was mad. And he wasn't letting her sister win.

* * *

Lynn's thoughts as she entered the  **fifth lap** were far opposite from the ones of her brother. He had a few occasions to get a glimpse of her back when doing turns, and she had found out that Luan and Lana were failing to keep her pace. Jokester and Plumber sisters were getting farther, to the point that Lynn could already sense the smell of triumph.

 _Piece of cake!_ she thought.  _Gotta give it to Lincoln, he was able to work me up a little, but in the end only the real champion in the family wins!_

Meanwhile, Lincoln had more urging problems than the possible victory of the thirteen-year-old.

"Clyde?! What are you doing?!" he yelled, even though no one could hear him. Clyde had been actively trying to sneak into his sides to overtake him, and Lincoln had found it hard to keep him at bay. What he didn't know, though, was that Clyde was trying to  _push_  Lincoln forward: he  _knew_ he was faster than him, and he wanted to use Lincoln's slipstream to reach Luan and Lana as soon as possible.  _Sorry, Lincoln, but a race gotta be a race._

Behind them, Luna continued to ignore the protests of her passenger and waited for the best chance to attack both Clyde and Lincoln. She was so focused she didn't notice 'Leni' going by her side on a straight line. "Luna!" Lola said in alarm, "Get moving, Leni's almost passed us!"

"What?!" Luna realized that, indeed, Leni and Lisa had already gained a certain advantage, and she forced her kart to its limits. Lisa actually wanted to overtake them in order to place someone between Leni and Lori, who had been getting increasingly fierce and careless, but her plan didn't take into account the rocker's grit. Luna didn't push on the brakes and kept her position up until the start of the next, close turn. The two karts came to almost touch each other, with Luna closing on Leni's kart.

Lisa made a few fast theories about the possible outcomes and, eventually, she resorted to pull back.  _I'll have to get a much better chance to beat my soundwave-lover sister. She's more of a threat than I-_ her thoughts were stopped when Luna, instead of waiting for Leni and Lisa to move behind, closed to the road's kerb and ended up bumping into their kart's front with their one's back.

Luna's fought against the desire of her kart to go 180° and eventually managed to remain on the track, finally earning a satisfied huff from the pageant queen. The same sadly couldn't be said for 'Leni', whose kart simply went rotating on the gravel.

When the vehicle finally lost its momentum, all Lisa could do was watching Lori and Lucy following Luna, effectively leaving the little genius at last place.

"Ohh, too bad! It was good until it lasted though, right Lisa?" Leni said, already convinced their race had come to an end.

"Correction, Leni… It just  _started,"_  Lisa lowly replied. Before Leni could ask what she meant with that, the kart buzzed back to life and Leni had to hold on the wheel for dear life as the vehicle returned to the asphalt and went into pursuit  _without_ her input.

* * *

"That should teach Leni!" Lori boasted, once she crossed the line of the straight road of the track and made her way to the  **sixth lap** as no more the last driver of the leader-board.

"We might have defeated your roommate, but we're still a long way from obtaining the defeat of our sisters," Lucy noted. "I would be glad, though, to see you not actively try to kill us."

"What? I literally won us a place with my  _superior_ driving skills. And now that I think about it, Luna could do with a little teaching too…"

"Sigh. I asked for inspiration, not for this…" Lucy muttered. She decided that she might as well try to get ideas from the upcoming race, in the event she survived.

A desire that was soon put to the test as Lori proved to be way faster than Luna, and Lola was outraged to find out they already had another kart ready to overtake them anytime.

"That's IT!" the six-year old roared. "Now we're doing it my way, with or without your approval!"

"Lola, please! Chill out!" Luna pleaded, but Lola didn't steal the steering wheel from her like she expected. The rocker resisted the urge to move her head and check out whatever her younger sister was preparing and tried her best to keep her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"This should do!" Lola eventually exclaimed. Ignoring Luna's protests, she whirled around to face Lori and Lucy and showed them that she was holding a little paper sack in one of her hands.

Both Lori and Lucy immediately realized the upcoming danger, and the oldest Loud pushed on the brakes just in time as Lola let the container fall behind her kart. The sack disintegrated almost instantly upon touching the asphalt at high speed, and whatever was inside spread out on the track.

"What the heck?!" Lori uttered. She couldn't clearly see what devious trap Lola had just released, she could just see that it  _glittered_ to the light – not a good sign in her book. Soon, her race turned into a slalom of sorts as she tried to evade the shining objects she could see, which made her lose ground. Lola, though, left two additional sacks behind her.

"Just to be safe…" Lola grinned to herself and sat down once again, satisfied with her opera. "And Lana thought she could fool around with Luan… she should know better!"

"What in the world did you just do?" Luna demanded.

"I just rid us of an obstacle, 'sis', using a few leftover accessories," Lola replied nonchalantly. "Now try to keep up with Lincoln's friend and be ready to do a little avoiding once I tell you!"

"Ugh… as you wish, Ma'am," Luna grumbled, deciding that arguing wouldn't have gotten any results. Besides, she  _did_ want to win herself. "I can see Clyde a little ahead of us… but Lincoln?"

* * *

_Gosh, Lincoln, you did what I wanted alright, but I didn't expect it to be this way!_ Clyde thought to herself as he lost another second to his best friend. Lincoln had suddenly changed his pace after the start of the last lap, and Clyde found out that, despite his efforts, the white-haired boy was simply faster than him. He could barely see his kart now during the longer straights of the track, and Clyde could only hope that Lincoln would put some problems in Luan's way, since she and her companion remained his main goal.

Speaking of which, Lana checked who was behind them to see the approaching kart driven by Lincoln. "Uh-oh. Angry brother incoming."

"He will have his revenge towards Lynn someday, but today is ours! Time to give our  _sour_  Lincoln a little  _sugar_ to help him cool off! Hahaha!"

"I think I'm simply going to do the throwing and pretend I didn't hear that," Lana said, shaking her head, before preparing the next pie projectile. She turned around and skilfully aimed for the nearing kart before throwing the dangerous glaze at it.

Yet, Lincoln easily moved to the side and the pie disassembled on the asphalt without slowing him down at all. "What?" Lana blurted out, "How did he even see that coming?"

"Must have seen the remains of our surprise for Clyde! Keep those pies coming, he can't avoid them all!" Luan commanded.

* * *

"Lynn! LYNN!" Rita Loud shouted, grabbing his husband and shaking him out of his discussion with the other spectators.

"Wow, hon, sorry, what's up? We're discussing very important matters here!"

"Those will have to wait! LOOK!" Rita forced Lynn Sr. to look at the track right in front of them. Watching Luan and Lana doing shooting practice once was enough, but seeing them continuously trying to make Lincoln lose control  _and_ every one of her kids barely eluding the traps courtesy of Lola was simply too much.

Yet, there was a little problem in Rita's action. The kart track was a little longer compared to most circuits of the same kind, and that meant that a good part of it wasn't clearly watchable by the spectators on the bleachers. The horrors Rita had to witness to were, unfortunately, now taking place in said part, and so were the rest of the kids.

Therefore, Lynn Sr., Bobby and the other two men could only see Leni and Lisa, lonely continuing on with their own race as they tried to get back in the game and reach their siblings.

"Seriously, Rita, relax for a few minutes, enjoy the race and let the kids have a little fun," Lynn Sr. said, failing to notice the white marks left by whipped cream in some parts of the track near them. "Trust me, you're overthinking this. The kids are as safe as  _ever!"_

Rita brought a hand over to her face and, eventually, let herself fall on the nearest seat, right beside Lily, who was just as much oblivious to the happenings as her father.

_Dang it, Lynn._

* * *

Luan and Lana persisted in their bombardment even after the start of the  **seventh lap,** but their brother wasn't slowed down at all. Lincoln continued to evade the incoming delicacies and kept up the pace of her two sisters, until he began to exploit the contrail left by their own kart. He was now in overtaking mode.

Luan and Lana's predicament only got worse as the latter made a worrying discovery. "We got a problem, Luan! We're out of ammo!"

"WHAT?" Luan didn't believe her sister's words. "I fast-baked one-hundred cakes for us, you can't have possibly already used them all!"

Lana cleared her throat.

"…you didn't…"

"It's not my fault your cakes are delicious as well!" Lana tried to defend herself. "Also, there was this guy who asked me where I was bringing all these pies, I made up a little story but he wanted try a piece! I couldn't just say no! And then he told me why I didn't try them out myself, and he looked like he really enjoyed them, and the cakes looked sooo inviting, and-"

"Enough, cut it out! You're distracting me!" Luan cried. Unfortunately, he turned towards Lana in order to make her sentence more effective… and when she turned back to the road, she realized she was going.

"Oh, no- nooooooooooo!" Luan and Lana yelled together as the former tried to follow the turn at high speed, which only resulted in them losing control of their kart of course. The vehicle went spinning like a top and began slowing down only when the kart reached the gravel. As Lana and Luan shook the dizziness away, Lincoln was already a long way far from them.

"Ugh, Linc. You just  _had_ to be that competitive today, didn't you?" Lana groaned. Luan simply pushed the throttle down and resumed the race before anyone else could reach them and make them lose more places than needed.

* * *

"Gah… Lori sure is putting everything in this race," Luna said to herself. Trying to keep the oldest Loud at bay was no easy task, she had found out, and Lori's attacks had come to be very dangerous during the current lap.

That of course was no good news for Lola Loud, who had continued to pester her fifteen-year-old sister without letting her have a second of peace… until two minutes ago.

Seeing Lola silenced was  _preoccupying._ At any rate, Luna couldn't help but ask her, "Lola? Are you all right?"

" _Let Lori have our place, Luna."_

…

"Excuse me?"

"Let her get ahead of us. Let her win as she surely wants to…" Lola's tone was gripping with  _evil._ Whatever she had in mind, she had a plan. Luna pondered over her decision, and in the end she decided to comply. What could possibly go wrong? Maybe Lola had realized their struggle wasn't getting them anywhere… maybe she wanted to get behind Lori and Lucy to steal the place back during the last lap!

Eventually, Luna voluntarily slowed down during a turn and left the best trajectory free of use. Obviously, Lori took advantage of the gap without hesitating.

And Lola's plan set into motion.

"And Luna's down! That's what I'm talking about!" Lori cheered.

"I would suggest keeping your eyes on the road, Lori," Lucy suggested. "I don't think it's wise to-…"

"Gimme a break, Lucy! You're driving with your oldest sister here. This kart is nothing compared to Vanzilla! Just watch and we'll leave the rest of our siblings with nothing but – WOAH!"

Lori's boast had resulted in a loss of attention. And the loss of attention had resulted in her failing to notice the glittering remains of Lola's surprises from the previous lap. The very end result was Lori and Lucy screaming as the wheels of their vehicle were punctured by the old jewellery and blew up instantly. The kart continued its movement, with Lori unable to do anything as the metal of the kart's frame glided on the asphalt and, afterwards, the gravel, sending reddish sparks everywhere, and it came to a halt only after colliding with the very edge of the kart track.

Thankfully, said edge was simply made of hay and no further damage was made to the vehicle. Lucy's safety belt tensed up and the eight-year-old was kept in place, preventing the momentum from sending her in the air. The pressure knocked the wind out of her and she spent five seconds trying to regain control of her breath.

"…as… I was saying…" Lucy started, ready to tell her  _dear_  older sister how much right she was… but Lori wasn't by her side.

Worry would have surely gotten for her if it wasn't for the noises coming from the other side of the track's edge… noises of water being splashed. Lucy quietly detached her seatbelt and left the now unusable kart, she grabbed the surface of the hay bale and pulled herself up. Once over the makeshift anti-crash barrier, Lucy was able to behold the spectacle.

Apparently, Lori had either accidentally detached her own seatbelt in the commotion or the same belt failed to do its proper job. In any case, the result must have been the hurl of the oldest Loud sibling over the barrier and onto the other side… where, coincidentally, the designers of the kart track had the great idea to place a little pond.

Lucy sat down and simply observed as Lori, who had already abandoned her helmet, waded on the shallow water, pitifully trying to evade the algae and greenish formations in an attempt to not worsen up her own state. When she finally managed to make it to the shore, Lucy judged that Lori could have made a pretty good impersonation of a swamp monster.

"And… as I was saying…" Lucy began, but Lori cut her off with a twitchy move of her arm.

"Please… just leave the comments for later and help me get these things off me… I cannot let Bobby see me like this!"

* * *

"Is that Lori?" Bobby worryingly said once he recognized a bit of blonde hair in the unfortunate driver who had gone in a little swim, all while Lynn Sr. and the second spectator stared in complete surprise. The track manager had already left to batten down the hatches once the gravity of the situation sank in.

Rita could only hope that he would be enough fast for her own kids.

* * *

"I think we're doing good. I saw Luna! She must not be very far!" Leni said.

"That's correct," Lisa approved while she continued to secretly man the kart. "We're keeping a good pace since our siblings in the first places are yet to be seen behind us, and hopefully the commotion caused by the withdrawal of Lori and Lucy should slow down a little the general speed."

"I'm so sorry for her… I hope she's all right," Leni said with concern.

"I'm sure she is… physically speaking, of course," Lisa responded. The kart gained a few units to the speed counter as the little genius focused once again.

_The sixth place might be better than the seventh, but we'll technically still arrive as the last in the group… and we're approaching the end. I cannot let this test go to waste. I know my tech can do better than this!_

Thus, Leni and Lisa passed through the main straight and the  **eighth lap** officially began. Lisa was sure they still had a chance… but destiny had other ideas.

Something buzzed inside the remote-control joypad Lisa had been using, and a couple of the buttons over it suddenly shot away, hitting Lisa's helmet and alerting her. When she looked down at it, she only saw a little smoke coming out of the contraption.

_What the… oh, no, you wouldn't!_

Lisa pressed the button that would have normally activated the brakes, praying that the kart would have slowed down… but the vehicle remained firm in its trajectory.

 _Not now, not now!_ Lisa thought, looking over the track only to see the approaching turn. There was far too little time to go and try to fix the remote-control system again… she had to either force the kart to turn off or prepare for a personal encounter with the edge hay similar to Lori's case.

Unless…

Lisa glanced at Leni. The sixteen-year-old didn't even suspect she wasn't really controlling the kart, but she was clearly  _driving…_ as if, using the steering wheel and pedals. Lisa pondered over her options and decided to do the unthinkable. If there was one possibility to have the race completed, she would take it.

She leaned down and simply moved her hand to a secret, emergency button placed right under her seat. She sighed and closed her eyes before clicking it, thus deactivating the entire remote-control system she had set up. There was only one input for the kart's commands now.

Lisa braced herself, hoping to have at least one limb spared from being broken… but after fifteen seconds, nothing happened. She timidly opened her eyes, only to discover a scene she couldn't frankly believe in.

The kart was still in one piece, continuing its own race. Luna and Lola were now in sight, too, and they were getting nearer to them. Lisa slowly turned her head to watch the only possible responsible of all of this.

Leni turned her head for a moment, too, and made a thumbs-up sign with one of her hands, before turning her attention back to the race.

"How…" Lisa spluttered, only to cut her own speech off.  _I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for this, but now is not the time to think about it. I'll only have to wait and hope that… Leni continues what she's doing._

* * *

Luan regretted not preparing a Plan B. Now that Lincoln had basically made them waste all of their 'secret weapons', she and Lana were completely out of options. Despite her efforts, in fact, Luan apparently wasn't the best driver in the market.

That, or maybe Clyde  _really_  wanted his place back.

Luan tried her best to keep her position, moving sideward when needed in order to block Clyde's attempts at overtaking her. The Afro-American boy was putting everything he knew into motion, and it showed.

"Right!" Lana warned, and Luan promptly steered, forcing Clyde to slow down in order to not hit them. But ten seconds later he was again on the attack. "Left!"

 _I didn't remember Luan and Lana being so steadfast!_ Clyde thought as he had to abandon yet another attempt. After coming out of a turn, he whirled around for an instant to check his back and saw what he feared to see: Luna and Lola were gaining ground, and behind them he even saw Leni and Lisa following.

_I must get Luan out of the picture or I'm going to end up between two fires!_

He decided to put more pressure to the Louds ahead. As the next turn approached, Clyde's kart sped up and he brought himself dangerously near the kart driven by the jokester.

 _Come on… come on…_ Clyde didn't attempt an overtake, but kept his position. One of his feet was ready on the brakes, but he knew he was risking a lot. He just needed to have Luan and Lana distracted.  _Just a tiny, little error…_

"Where? Where?!" Luan requested with urge.

"I don't know! It's right behind us but he's not moving!" Lana explained. "Give me something, Lana! What's his plan?!"

"How I am supposed to know, I'm not Lisa!"

"He's surely going to do something, he has to!"

"He could do anything, Luan!"

Luan wasn't satisfied by the answers of her co-pilot. Eventually, she decided to keep her vehicle close to the turn's centre.  _He can't overtake us by going external… he's too slow to do so._

Thus, before approaching the turn, Luan rotated the steering wheel and executed her plan. "Where's Clyde?" she asked.

"Left!"

_He's trying it anyway?_

Just as Luan entered the curve, Lana witnessed to the unthinkable. Clyde swerved right without notice and did the turn with a far different trajectory than Luan, who had to slow down in order to follow the turn as much near to the centre as possible. Thus, Clyde managed to conserve speed by sacrificing the length of the space he had to go through, but his idea paid him back.

They left the curve with the McBride driver moving at  _twice_ the speed. Before Lana could even say "RIGHT!" Clyde zoomed past them. His appearance was so sudden that Luan instinctively pushed on the brake lever a little, causing the kart to swerve. Luan desperately tried to fight it, but the kart was already moving on its own and no amount of steers helped her to recover control.

They ended up on the gravel, and despite Luan's prompt restart, they weren't enough fast and lost places to both Luna and Leni. They were the last.

"Dang it, Clyde…" Lana grunted.

"Guess he got the  _pie_  back at us…" Luan joked, trying to raise the mood a little. Lana looked at her and the fourteen-year-old could feel the glare.

_That didn't work, did it?_

* * *

Lynn had not been driving seriously for at least two laps now. There was no sign of her siblings behind her for more than five, anyway… she was sincerely surprised she had not managed to lap them. While she always gave everything she got during her sports matches, challenging her siblings had always been another matter.

Having a little fun while she was at it wouldn't have hurt anyone, would it?

Lynn had just been considering whether to start manning the steering wheel with her feet when her sports sixth sense suddenly put her on alert. An event that was followed right after by the noise of an approaching kart.

The sportsgirl barely had the time to grab the wheel and steer, cutting the way off to her attacker.  _Luan? How did she even manage to recover… wait._

The kart following her had just one seat, and she was pretty sure it wasn't Clyde's.

_Lincoln… So, you wanna play it rough, do you? You're welcome to do so… but you'll have to catch me, little bro!_

Lynn pushed on the throttle, speeding up down the main straight of the track and past the start-line, Lincoln right behind her in hot pursuit. One of the assistants came out right after their passage, wielding a chequered flag and preparing to expose it after the end of the last karter's lap.

The  **ninth and last lap** of the race had just started.

* * *

Behind Lynn and Lincoln, a three-way battle for the third place went on. Clyde's display of racing skills didn't help him out on the long run and by now he had found himself with the need to play defensive in order to not lose the place he had just won to Luna, all while Leni reached them as well, and by now the three karts were all on the same line.

"What are you waiting for, Luna?!" Lola shouted her discomfort out. "Get Clyde out of the way!"

"Easier said than done, sis! Just stop screaming, my ears are bleeding!" Luna said in annoyance. Of course, her request went unfulfilled.

"What? I've been trying to keep us into the race,  _I_ am the responsible for our current place and if it wasn't for me, we'd still be the last!"

"Leaving alone the fact your help might cost us dearly after we're done here… just what, dude! I am the one driving, not you!"

For some reason, the remark infuriated the pageant queen more than Luna would have wanted. "That's it! I've had enough of your pathetic driving, Luna, now's my turn!" she said right before leaning in and grabbing the steering wheel.

"What in the world, Lola?! Stop!"

"Let me WIN!"

* * *

Clyde expected the rocker to attempt another overtake on the next turn. Yet, someone did  _try_ to pass ahead… but that one was Leni.

Dumbfounded, Clyde barely managed to keep the blonde Loud sister at bay. He then decided that whatever had caused the switch between Leni and Luna was not important as of now…

…just since when did Leni become so skilled at driving?

* * *

Lisa was examining the current situation from a perfectly scientific point of view. To do so, though, she had to omit a tiny fact… the fact that Leni was driving right now and she was doing pretty good.

She really had to discover just how was Leni able to drive the kart without crashing after five seconds… Lisa suspected it had something to do with Lincoln's videogames. Or maybe it was for a passive learning curve the fashionista had somehow followed during the first part of the race, when Lisa was in control.

Yet, Leni didn't suddenly become a master of karting. Additionally, her remarks and happy comments didn't leave doubt about it – she wasn't taking the race that much seriously. Lisa was pretty sure that Clyde would have managed to get to the finish line ahead of them. Luan was of no problem, she was far behind them, while Luna and Lola had lost quite some time and were apparently too occupied arguing with each other to care about the race.

The last four places were sealed. Lisa didn't mind… she had obtained plenty of data today, and more or less she was satisfied with what she had seen.

She now just had to wait… and maybe discover who would have  _won_ the battle for the first place as well.

* * *

Lincoln's pursuit of Lynn started out very cautious. The boy was wary of the tactics her sister might resort to in order to defend the first place, and he had all the reasons to at least spend a couple of seconds thinking about the next move.

The seconds of the timer ticked by, though, and in the end Lincoln tried an overtake to test her own sister's reaction.

The eleven-year-old was astonished when Lynn simply let him have the space needed to complete the overtake. He at first couldn't believe it, but Lynn had clearly simply let him go!

"How is this…"  _no, wait!_

Lincoln would have steered to enter the next bend to the left, if it wasn't for Lynn. The sportsgirl moved to the boy's left, blocking the best route and preventing him from following it as well. As a result, Lincoln had to go external, losing precious seconds as well as the first place.

 _I knew it! But we're not finished, Lynn!_ Lincoln scowled before resuming his pursuit. He began to attack Lynn continuously, and soon their duel became a weird game of pass-the-first-place where the kids alternatively stole the position to the other. Their abilities were equal and it was clear that Lynn herself was getting annoyed by her little brother.

From the bleachers, Rita and a now equally disturbed Lynn Sr. both stared at the two kids' battle. Even Lily was quite absorbed and watched the duel in silence. The karts progressively became nearer and nearer after each turn as both Lynn and Lincoln pushed aside the rules of safety. The tension could be felt from anyone.

Lynn and Lincoln had already progressed through most of the track, and only three turns separated them from the finish line, the chequered flag and the glory of victory. Lincoln entered the first curve at first place, but when he left it he was once again second. The boy kept his focus and prepared to steal his place back, but Lynn wasn't giving up easily this time. His sprints were promptly blocked by her movements, to the point that at one time their karts touched each other. Gasps went out of Rita and Lynn Sr.'s mouths, all while Bobby was apparently enjoying the spectacle very much.

One turn was left before the final straight and Lynn was still in one place. Lincoln could feel sweat beginning to make the air inside his helmet stale, but he didn't slow down.  _No, Lynn, not today. Today you won't be the winner!_

Lincoln managed to gain a little space towards Lynn, but he had to sacrifice the best trajectory for the turn to do so. The end result was them leaving for the last straight and towards the end line  _side by side,_ in a fashion that would likely have requested the use of photo-finish.

That, though, didn't happen. Neither one of the Loud siblings decided to leave manoeuvring space to their challenger, and their karts dangerously came nearer and nearer. The contrast couldn't be evaded and both vehicles swerved immediately after the impact. While Lynn managed to fight the force back, Lincoln wasn't so lucky and his vehicle began to have a life of its own. It would have been the best possible end result ever for Lynn.

Too bad Lincoln's kart ended up crashing into her own.

The noise of metal against metal roared around the kart track, and the Loud parents covered their eyes. When they reopened them, thankfully there was no explosion nor fire going on.

Lincoln had been sent rotating on the asphalt and his kart stopped its crazy course just a few meters away from the edge, on the gravel. Lynn, however, had not been that lucky: the impact had made her kart lose grip on the road, but the vehicle didn't went spinning like Lincoln's. It, instead, stopped to answer to Lynn's commands through the steering wheel and went straight for a perpendicular crash into the edge hay. The girl looked alright, but there was smoke coming out of her kart. The vehicle wasn't restarting anytime soon. Her race had ended.

Lincoln realized quickly that the same didn't apply for his own. He tried to restart the engine but the motor betrayed him. He spent a grand total of fifteen seconds in turning it on and he was powerless as Clyde passed ahead of him, followed right after by the two couples of Leni and Lisa  _and_ Luna and Lola.

In a haste, once the kart finally buzzed back to life Lincoln resumed the race and crossed the finish line, but it wasn't really needed. It took Luan and Lana another ten seconds before they could finally conclude their less than stellar race as well.

The man holding the chequered flag retreated from the right edge. He mentally made a recap of the results of the race… there was no doubt about them.

_Lynn Loud and Lori Loud have to withdraw after accidents involving them. The final leaderboard stares Clyde McBride in first place and formal winner! He's followed by Leni Loud in second place, Luna Loud in third place, Lincoln Loud comes fourth and finally Luan Loud is the fifth and last racer in the list._

_I'll have to get a copy of the recording of this one from the cameras. This has been one session full of surprises…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. Unfortunately, speed writing is not a virtue of mine… next chapter is going to be a short finale and I'm willing to put it out as soon as I can.
> 
> I had two choices I could follow with this story; going full Mario Kart or trying to write a Project-CARS-tier depiction. In the end, I thought that the first one was a little too much over-the-top, while the second one is far from being doable with my scarce knowledge of the subject and would have probably ended up being boring, so I went with what I'd call a mix of both. I wasn't even sure how to narrate a race, so I sort of dived into it and write whatever came to my mind first. Hope you liked what you've read.


	3. Awards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And that's done! I already said this was a little story written mostly for fun, but it did help me and I think I've learned at least how to write the Loud kids decently. I have more ideas starring them I really want to develop, so more Loud House stories will definitely come in the future. For now, hoping that you've liked this short fanfic, I thank you for reading!

_Wait… did I just… win?_

Suddenly, Clyde forgot about every conceivable safety rule. He slowed down his roaring kart, took off the helmet and threw it away, and started shouting his own delight. "I WIN! I WIN!" he cried, saluting a non-existent crowd until he reached the track's part right in front of the bleachers… and he proceeded to wave at the 'huge' crowd composed of the dumbfounded Loud parents, an excited Bobby and overjoyed Lily who waved back and four or five additional spectators spread around, all more or less shocked by the race they had just witnessed to.

Even the man with the dark attire seemed to be quite impressed as he hastily took out his phone and dialled up a number. "Greg?" he said, "Greg, I believe I've found something big in Royal Woods, a couple of kids Ravenwest won't want to miss. Listen closely…"

His call went unheard by the rest of the 'crowd' as the remaining participants of the race completed the winning lap. Behind Clyde came the kart driven (for real) by Leni Loud: the sixteen-year-old was currently busy in a similar behaviour to her brother's best friend, since she was cheering and waving around. Lisa simply sat on her seat with an unimpressed look, even though deep down she was happy with the results, too. The technology was working, she just had to improve the durability a little… now she had more important matters to attend to, like trying to understand how the heck did Leni manage to drive up until the last lap and score second place.

Following Leni, Luna drove calmly. She and her co-driver were apparently too much preoccupied sulking and pretending the other didn't exist to cheer for the third place on the podium, apparently, but even if they weren't admitting it their final position was still better than anything they were expecting.

Occupying fourth place was Lincoln Loud. The boy was busy trying to calm himself down and let the adrenaline charge inside his body die out, but even so his thoughts were currently specified on the final outcome of its own race. He was in fourth place, so he had not won… but he did have an effect on a certain brunette sportsgirl, though. And he wasn't sure whether he was going to like it or not.

Far from the first four, Luan marked the last place of the five karts who had managed to complete the race. Both her and Lana were quite displeased with their final result. Playing dirty had not payed off in the end, but they couldn't really blame anyone but their own ego for it. And Luan's jokes weren't helping in cheering Lana up, either.

Slowly, one after the other, the five finalists completed the lap, entered the pit zone and finally came to their definitive stop. They left their karts to the technicians around, with Clyde coming up with an absurd excuse about how he had lost his helmet due to a faulty belt, and eventually they regrouped toghether.

No one of them seemed to be willing to start a conversation though. After a minute of awkward silence, Lincoln decided to break the ice himself. "Sooo… congratulations I guess, Clyde."

"Thank you!" Clyde suddenly brightened up at the mention of his name. "You know, Lincoln, I might have found the last time fun, but racing with you and your sisters was awesome! I mean, your siblings can be a little intense…" he shot a glare at Luan and Lana as they nervously grinned in embarrassment, "…but all in all I couldn't ask for anything better than this one…"

"Well, of course you can't, you  _won,"_ Lola grumbled. "You have to consider yourself lucky, if I was the one driving my vehicle…"

"Lola…" Luna started.

"No, I'm not taking no for an answer this time, 'dude'!" Lola cut off. "You and I have much to discuss about!"

"Like the fact that you two have been arguing and distracting each other continuously instead of lending a hand to the other and thus possibly gaining an overall better result altogether?" Lisa asked, even though with her tone it sounded more like a statement. Lola and Luna turned towards her with annoyance… but Lisa wasn't fazed by her glares and in the end the two Loud sisters had to divert their eyes from the genius.

"You can't blame the other for your own loss, sisters. Example, see me and Leni: a perfect union I'd say," she continued, with Leni smiling her approval.

"Yeah, a synergy I wouldn't doubt about," Lana sarcastically said. "Anyhow, what's about all that tech stuff I saw you carrying around half an hour before the race?"

Lisa suddenly became way less calm than before and started playing with her thumbs. "Well, I… I wasn't… uh… of course…" she stammered, earning a confused look by Leni. Lana simply rolled her eyes.

"If you're somehow accusing her of cheating… well… you know," Lincoln pointed out, with Clyde fast nodding behind.

"Oh, come on, we've learned the lesson! No need to put more emphasis on that," Luan said. "Besides, I don't see where the problem was… I just made the race a little more  _pied_ up!"

Everybody groaned. "Not good, sis, not good," Luna said while shaking her head.

"For once I agree. Clearly you've reserved that little surprise because you felt the need to!" Lola affirmed. Luan and Lana, though, instead of feeling offended, watched her oddly. "What?" Lola asked in puzzlement, only to remember what she  _herself_ did during the race and realize that she had basically just insulted himself. "Wait, wait, wait, that's different! That was needed!"

"Needed? Was it needed to reduce me to this  _state, Lola?!"_  boomed the voice of the eldest loud sibling. Everybody whirled around to look at the new arrival and they all screamed in fright.

"A swamp monster!"

"We're all doomed!"

"Save yourselves!"

"HUSH! It's me, Lori!" she said, trying to get another batch of algae remains out of her air. "I'm going to wash myself up now but once I'm done you're  _all_  soo going to get it, especially you Lola and Luna!"

"What? I didn't do anything!" Luna protested.

"You  _let_ her! And I'm not taking no for an answer!" Lori replied.

"But… but…"

"I'd agree with her if I were you," somebody said, startling Luna up who shrieked in fright, ultimately causing the rest of the Loud kids to do the same (except for Clyde who was too busy trying not to pass out to the presence of his crush). "Lucy! How are you able to appear out of thin air even outdoors?!" Lincoln asked.

"You just have to pay attention, brother," Lucy simply replied. "I have no hard feeling against none of you, though. I've gained plenty of ideas for my poems, mostly dealing with the fear of failure and such. It was fun."

"Yeah… You know guys, she's right. Not on the poem part," Lana said. "It  _was_ fun. Like Clyde said, we've been a little hard on each other, but that was part of the game."

"To be honest, I was expecting far worse!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"I was totes expecting Lisa to have added up some kind of tech contraption to our kart and start using it against you all, but guess she didn't!" Leni tweeted, much to the embarrassment of the four-year-old beside her.

"I guess I had to expect the unexpected given who I was racing with," Clyde, now revigorated, said.

"And I guess I would've had to focus a little more on the fun part of it…" Lola finally admitted.

"Well, all in all I think it was good, even if I ended up in last place!" Luan finished. "Of course, me and Lana ended up being the last because we weren't accustomed to karting, but clearly that is not true anymore."

Everyone watched Luan.

"Is that a request for a re-match?" Lincoln said, raising an eyebrow.

"Mmmh… maybe…" Luan grinned... and, of course, the Louds grinned back. A day where a challenge from one of the siblings to the others went unanswered was rare, indeed.

"Oh, forget about it! I just have to get changed, I cannot let Bobby see me in this state!" Lori muttered, and turned around to return to the changing room. Too bad she had not realized that right behind her there was Bobby Santiago himself.

"Lori… is that you?" Bobby timidly asked. Lori didn't answer, but she simply fainted on the spot, with Luna and Leni coming to her help and Clyde suddenly marching up to 'defend' her from the guy who had just 'knocked her out'.

"Kids! So, did you have fun?" Lynn Sr. announced as he, Rita and Lily came to join the group.

"Yeah, we did…" Lincoln said smiling. Lynn Sr. face, though, quickly turned into a frown.

"Me and your father have a lot of talking to do with all of you. Do you have any idea how much in danger have you put each other in?" Rita started, ignoring the fidgeting Lily she was holding. "Pie bombardment, trap laying, aggressive riding and bumper-car-grade behaviour!"

None of the kids dared to answer. "You have to realize, kids, how irresponsible it was of you to do so!"

"Your mother's right, kids. Do you have any idea how much it's going to cost us with the damage to the kart track?" Lynn Sr. continued. "I mean, those were quite a few amazing moves you pulled off, but we can't afford to… what? …oh, yeah, and it was very bad of you to do so, too," Lynn Sr. specified once Rita fired a soul-piercing glare at him.

"He's not wrong, people," the manager of the track interjected, entering the conversation unannounced. "And on top of the damage your daughters, son and son's friend did to our premises, we have to take into account the long list of rules you've been told and effectively went all the way down to break. So, let me begin with a fast report of it all: carrying unauthorized objects on the track and inside the track, fifty dollars  _per kart._ Clear unruly aggressive behaviour against other participants, thirty dollars per kart. Damage of track's property including asphalt being soiled by cream and kart tires exploded by foreign extraneous objects, for a grand total of…"

Lynn Sr. almost passed out and Luan and Bobby had to help him out to prevent him from falling off. Lola, Lana and Lisa simply stared at the spectacle, unsure how to react.

Clyde and Lincoln looked at each other. "Maybe it'll take some time before the re-match, won't it?" Clyde said.

"Huh-huh." Lincoln nodded. "But don't worry though, from now on I'm not going to doubt about your proposals Clyde. I will be always in from a kart race!"

"That's good to hear… I have to ask though… where is Lynn?"

"Lynn!" Lincoln looked around, but there was no trace of her sister around here. "Oh boy… I gotta apologize to her."

"She might pummel you down to a pulp if you go looking for her."

"She will do it regardless of me trying to do so or not, Clyde. Besides, I owe her an explanation for what happened… we've been both a little aggressive on each other during the race."

"I know where she is," Lucy suddenly said, scaring Clyde and Lincoln for the second time. "I saw her walking to the changing room without a word,  _pouting,_ after she was helped out of her kart. She's all right, but if you ask me… you might need to have a word or two with her before she decides to do the same first."

Lincoln nodded his approval. "I guess we'll have to wait once we're all good to go."

* * *

Lincoln and Clyde stood in wait in the lobby of the circuit. The latter was currently admiring the shiny trophy that had been handed over to him as a prize for his victory… a nominal trophy, mind you, not much bigger than one of his hands and definitely not made out of gold or any type of precious metal, but it did show who was the winner. The former, on the other hand, held Lily in his hands, who seemed to have a huge interest in the object herself.

Bobby Santiago was currently listening to the Afro-American boy and his account of the race, since Lori didn't have the force to tell him anything after her black-out. Clearly, the two of them could get along as long as the blonde wasn't involved, something Lincoln didn't fail to notice. The Loud parents waited nearby while discussing with Harold and Howard McBride, who had just arrived to personally pick their son up. Apparently, they were too much preoccupied to simply let Lynn and Rita give a ride to their son and wait for his arrival at home… and the call they made upon which a flustered Lynn Sr. had answered had scared them, even though the man wasn't anxious because of a hypothetical accident.

As Lynn and Rita tried to find a way to contain the damage done by the kids and consequent money loss with the help of the McBrides' advices, Lincoln continued to stare at the entrance that brought to the changing rooms, in wait for the arrival of his sisters. And soon enough, the nine of them appeared.

"Hello, girls!" Howard greeted once he saw the approaching group. "How did it go?"

"'Twas fine. Not my best performance, but at least we've been having  _cakes_  of fun!"

"Luan, I swear to god, if I hear another cake or pie joke from you…" Lola growled.

"Now, now, no need to get angry now, sis," Luna interjected. "It was cool. I must say, your son sure knows how to handle the wheel!"

Harold laughed at her remark. "Well, if anything, all the hours he's been spending playing with his console did help in some way!"

As the McBrides parents and the girls proceeded to begin listing  _singular_ facts about Clyde, who suddenly felt a little self-conscious, Lincoln looked around until he found his next target: the only sister who wasn't supposedly enjoying the gossip session. "Wish me luck, Lily," he said to the little girl before letting her on the floor to go meet her sisters.

He made a long sigh, but he still walked forward until he was right in front of Lynn Jr.

The girl raised her head and glared at him with narrowed eyes. She wasn't happy to see him. "Ahem… Lynn?" the boy began.

"What?" Lynn's tone wasn't ecstatic, to use a euphemism. "What do you want? Wanna boast a little more?"

"No, of course not. I didn't win, why should I?"

"You didn't, sure, but you did get something done… didn't you? Are you happy now?"

Lincoln knew that her sister would get on the defensive fast, so he decided to answer accordingly. "Lynn, listen… I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry? You got me to  _withdraw,_  Lincoln. Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"I wanted to  _win,_ and maaaybe I wanted to win  _over_ you, but I didn't want to get you in an accident. I'm sorry for what happened!"

"Please!" Lynn replied. "Even if you  _were_ sorry, you cannot expect me to simply move on, Linc! I always give one-hundred-percent in every competition I participate in, regardless of it being the final of the championship or a casual family race. Look how that ended up half an hour ago! What's going to stop me for failing again?"

"Lynn, hear me out: what happened back there could've happened to  _everyone._ See how Lucy and Lori ended up? That wasn't something I expected for sure… at least, not before I saw the mischievous looks on Luan and Lana's faces before the race started. Yet, even  _you_ cannot defy fate if it wants to mess with you."

"Well, I  _should_  be able to do so!" Lynn retorted.

"Not really, athletic sister of mine," Lisa butted in out of nowhere. "According to my calculations, the combination of having seven karts in a race all driven by amateurs  _and_ the added weapon utilization of Luan and the twins had a notable effect on the chance of at least one accident happening. I find more unexpected the fact than only two of the karts in-game weren't able to reach the finish line."

Lynn turned around with a twitch and fired her most menacing glare to her little sister, but Lisa simply looked at her with her apathetic face, the one she usually wore when she knew she was right.

"I have no idea what Lisa just said, but she's right in saying you shouldn't think about it too much, Lynn," Lori said, now in her usual attire instead of the swamp monster disguise, approaching the three of them with the rest of their siblings behind her. "Sometimes there are things we really are not in control of. We can only do our best to prevent them from happening again."

"Not to mention that you were, indeed, driving a kart for the first time in your life… no one of us did before, even if we consider Lincoln's videogames!" Luna added.

"So, maybe you shouldn't think about it too much, Lynn! You'll win for sure, another day!" Leni said.

"I mean, if  _I_ did, why wouldn't you?" Clyde joked as he joined the group, earning a few chuckles from the Loud sisters around.

Lynn didn't answer any of her sisters' attempts at showing her the flaws in her line of though, but the scowl suggested she wasn't convinced yet. Lincoln, thus, decided to go for a very simple question.

"But, Lynn, tell me… did you have  _fun?"_ he asked, emphasising the 'fun'.

Lynn was going to retort angrily at him for asking her such a stupid question when she had finished her race with a close encounter with a hay barrier, but then her mind raced to what happened before then. Her initial overtaking to Lincoln's surprise and his following mistake, Clyde failing to keep up with her pace, the various shenanigans her sisters carried over as she kept the first place and the moment where her brother returned and began the duel for the first place with her.

"Uhh… a little, I guess?" she whispered, unable to lie to the presence of the eleven people around her.

"Poo-poo!" Lily suddenly cried, flailing her hands at the confirmation from her place in Lori's arms, with the rest of the Loud sisters either smirking or smiling.

"Called that!" Lana commented, followed right after by a "Been there…" of Lola.

"Besides, why should you feel like you're the last of the leaderboards?" Lucy added. "Lori and I got wrecked before you, and I'd argue Luan has the last place  _de facto."_

"Hey!" Luan protested, but she kept her silence once receiving the glares of the nearby sisters. Lucy's sentence did have a result, though, and Lynn finally couldn't stifle a chuckle coming out of her mouth.

"Heh… good enough, you have a point…" she finally confirmed. But her face suddenly turned into a fierce look as she looked at Lincoln.

"But don't think it ends here, champion-wannabee!" she said with resolution, "Next time you won't be so lucky as to have me out of the game! You're in for a re-match!"

Lincoln really would have liked to just shrug the challenge off, but how could he do so in front of all her sisters?

Besides, Lynn didn't properly lose today.

"You bet I am!" Lincoln replied, hands on his hips and grinning.

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"I suppose another test won't hurt…"

"I see another race coming in, dudes!"

With the rest of her sisters cheering to the offer, Lincoln was finally content in achieving his goal of getting Lynn out of her sulking mood and joined in the discussion made out of taunting promises and playful gibes. Clyde simply let the family have their space and went back to join his dads, who were willing to leave by now.

Lynn Sr. and Rita walked over to the group of their son and daughters. "I guess you're all good now, kids?" Rita asked with a smile.

The Loud kids whirled around hastily, expecting the worst, but both Rita and Lynn were apparently smiling. "Yes, I guess… but…" Lincoln started.

"Oh, don't worry Lincoln, we're no more angry with you. We believe it was just your way to spend time together, so we can't really be mad…"

The Louds let out a sigh of relief.

"Of course, it was still reckless of you to do all of that without permission, so…" Rita continued.

"YOU'RE ALL GROUNDED FOR A MONTH!" Lynn Sr. announced.

And the thoughts of an early rematch all died down with the collective groan of the Loud siblings. But despite their punishment, their opinion about the discipline of karting had fully changed for the time being.

**END**


End file.
